Abortion is the purposeful act of termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of a fetus from a woman’s uterus. Abortion, itself, has been a problem in the United States for many years now, especially since the Supreme Court decision Roe vs. Wade in 1973. This case ruled, in simpler terms, to be in favor of a woman’s right to have an abortion. Since then, there have been countless debates between pro-life and pro-choice advocates on the legality of abortion. A pro-choice woman, Mary Elizabeth Williams, wrote an article proclaiming why she has been pro-choice and the rights of women who are put in these situations. Although she points out that she agrees with pro-life advocates and believes life begins at conception, I firmly disagree with her way of thinking.
Williams believes, like I said, that life begins at conception. But that doesn’t sway her from being pro-choice. She says, “we play into the sneaky, dirty tricks of the anti-choice lobby when we on the pro-choice side squirm so uncomfortably at the ways in which they’ve repeatedly appropriated the concept of “life”” (Williams 2013). She describes that the term life shouldn’t be something to squirm over solely because all life is not equal. She proclaims that even though the fetus is a life inside a woman, doesn’t mean that it has the same rights as the mother. Although I agree with her on the fact that life begins at conception, I beg to differ on many of her other points.
Williams uses the word “life” throughout her article, claiming that she disagrees with most pro-choice people in that the fetus is a life inside the uterus. Most pro-choice advocates believe a life doesn’t begin until after birth, but she, as well as myself, and all other pro-life advocates believe life begins at conception. Here is where I agree with her. She created a commonplace between pro-life advocates and used this to try and win her argument to keep abortion. But in my opinion, this only makes her argument even more invalid. A life is a life, whether it is dependent on its mother or not. All forms of life deserve to live.
The title of her article is “So What if Abortion Ends Life?” This statement just doesn’t sound right. It goes against all morals of humankind. As a practicing Catholic, I was brought up to be against abortion, primarily because it is the end of a life. Thou shalt not kill is one of the Ten Commandments that, us as Catholics, follow as a way to structure our lives. So what if someone ended Williams’ life? I’m sure her answer would not be, “Oh that’s fine, I don’t need it anyways.” Life is something extremely precious. Every organism has developed mechanisms for survival, because to stay alive is what is strived for. So why is it okay to take the life of something that cannot do anything to protect itself. Most people don’t want to die. So just because a fetus can’t tell the mother he/she doesn’t want to die doesn’t mean it wants to. If the fetus could somehow communicate to the mother that it wants to live, I’m sure it would. Some people could argue that this type of mental cognition doesn’t fully develop until later years in an infant’s life, but once that mental cognition has developed there’s no doubt in my mind he or she would say they want to live. People would be angered, saddened, or even offended if someone told them that their mother thought about abortion while he or she was still in the uterus. I know I would. It would mean all you’ve ever done on this planet would not have happened. A fetus has the potential, just like any one of us to become anything in this world. That fetus could be the next Mahatma Ghandi, Steve Jobs, or president of the United States. Okay, maybe I’m taking this a little far, but it’s perfectly viable. My point to Williams is that a life is a life and just that. All life deserves the right to live.
Her argument at this point is that just because a fetus is a life inside of its mother, doesn’t mean it has the same rights as its mother. This is because, she says, “all life is not equal” (Williams 2013). In that statement she is referring to human beings. But wait, doesn’t the Declaration of Independence state all men are created equal? Of course it does, Thomas Jefferson wrote those exact words. The United States strives for all people to be created equal, it’s part of our country’s ideals. So, if Williams believes that there is a life inside of a woman there is no reason that this statement wouldn’t apply to it.
Many woman who have abortions to young to be able to support a child, have financial instability, have relationship problems and are unwilling to be a single mother (Lowen 2013), or have been raped. Although these problems are legitimate reasons, there are other alternatives to abortion. For example, mothers can give the their children up for adoption. Some adoptive parents will even pay for all medical expenses. These adoptions can either be open or closed (mothers get to see the child as much as possible or mothers choose to not see the child at all), depending on how much the mother would like to be in the child’s life.
All in all, Williams’ points don’t seem to add up. It’s difficult to say that there is a life inside of a woman, and then say it’s okay to end it. Personally, I believe that is a question on a person’s morals. It’s also difficult to say that the fetus’ rights aren’t the same as the mother’s because if Williams were consistent with her belief that the fetus is a life, then each person has rights. Just because this unborn fetus is unable to communicate and doesn’t have the mental cognition to understand what exactly is happening, doesn’t mean it won’t grow into an adult who will become fully aware of him or herself. One day, I hope the population will be more in favor of the pro-life aspect of abortion, but until then all us, “pro-lifers,” have to keep on fighting for what’s right.
References:
Ertelt, Steven. “LifeNews.com.” Recent Studies Confirm Women Face Depression After
Abortion, Other Problems. N.p., 28 Sept. 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.
Lowen, Linda. “Why Women Choose Abortion – Reasons Behind the
Abortion Decision.” About.com Women’s Issues. N.p., 2013. Web. 18 Mar.
2013.
Williams, Mary E. “SALON.” Saloncom RSS. N.p., 23 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.
